In the South-West of England, post 1500, there was to be a short but productive revival at Combe Martin in the late 16th century and Treworthie, in Cornwall, was also the subject of renewed interest at that time. Both being amongst the mines which were investigated throughout the medieval period without showing lasting promise at the time. There was to be no other substantial production centre until the mines in mid Wales were opened up in the second half of the sixteenth century. Subsequently it was these mines, along with deeper deposits opened up in the Northern Pennines and again in the South-West which became the major source of silver in the nineteenth century. There was, nevertheless, continued searches for new deposits in Devon throughout the early modern period. In south Devon, at Bere Ferrers, new silver deposits were identified and work by the end of the 17th century at Buttspill, on the same mineralised crosscourse north of the medieval workings. At Combe Martin, in north Devon, the productive working of the late 1580s was followed by further periods of prospecting and, with new evidence, now coming to light, periods of production through to, and beyond, 1700. It is the continued working of silver-bearing ores at Combe Martin which is the current focus of research; building on the investigation carried out into lead smelting residues from the 16th/17th century and the presence of mineral coal amongst those residues.

The use of coal in lead/silver smelting prior to 1700. At the close of the medieval period lead/silver smelting relied entirely on organic sources of fuel - brushwood in the wind-blown bole hearth and charcoal in a series of bellows blown furnaces. During the latter half of the 16th century a new process, the wood fired ore hearth, was developed, probably on Mendip, and diffused quickly to other lead and silver mining fields in Britain. The advantages of the ore hearth, with its controlled roast/reduction chemistry allowing for the efficient smelting of a greater range lead based ores, led to the demise of the bole although some charcoal fired furnaces were retained for the treatment of slags. Even after the development of the coal fired reverberatory, or cupola, furnace at the end of the 17th century the ore hearth continued to be used in some mining fields, through to the close of the 19th century. It could be fired using a variety of fuels - dried chop wood and, in the Yorkshire Dales, peat - and, although coal has been found in 18th century and later contexts (associated with the use of the ore hearth for treating slags), it was not believed to have been in common use until the 19th century in the development known as the Scotch hearth. The use of mineral fuels is generally associated with the development of the reverberatory furnace and the shift to smelting on or close to the coalfields in the 18th century.